Jyoti Basu: Man of History

One man, who could have guided India's destiny in recent history, Jyoti Basu is no more. He was one politician who was admired and respected all across the political spectrum. Even though he was a Marxist, he was always acceptable to various politicians and there was a moment in Indian history when he could have become India's Prime Minister.

In 1996, Jyoti Basu could have become India's PM but his party refused the position, which the late Marxist termed 'a historic blunder'. It was a rare opportunity in India because the communists had never been offered the Prime Minister's position. There was no one else who was so admired and respected among Indian politicians as Jyoti Basu.

Jyoti Basu was also one of the longest serving Chief Ministers of an Indian state. Under him, his party never lost elections and created records of all sorts. He was a pragmatic leader.

Basu was old and his organs failed. He was 95 years old. He suffered from multi-organ failure that led to his death. He has been often described as a veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and a CPM patriarch. People respected him and you would be surprised to see the kind of respect he commanded.

His successors in the CPM have been unable to command the kind of respect he got from others. To quote the big man, Jyoti Basu himself, on the decision of his party not to allow him to accept the Prime Minister's post, he said, "In politics there are moments when you have to rise to the occasion and you've got to cater to the need of the hour and the pleas of the people, our infallible judge."

Those words seem prophetic today. The CPM wanted to play a dubious role in Delhi, to use its influence but without taking the responsibility that comes with sharing power. They wanted to call the shots and to get everything done but did not want to be seen as sharing power with other parties. It was this ambivalent stand that stopped the CPM from taking power in 1996. This is something Jyoti Basu described as a historic blunder.